TODAY’S DEVOTION (Thursday 4th September 2025)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalms 23:1-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 247TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY
Today we want to look at what the Bible teaches on depending on God.
These are days of horsemen. These are no longer days of living by human strength. The Bible made it clear that by strength shall no man prevail. These are days of going back to the very strength Adam used to stay on the face of the earth before the fall.
The Bible teaches that Adam, the first man created, never survived by His own strength. He survived by the strength of Jehovah!!
He is the foundation of humanity. His life was the original design. Through it, we can see that we were not designed to survive by our strength. We were designed to survive by the strength of Jehovah. That is why only Christians who have learnt to depend on God in everything are surviving the seasons we live in.
Now, what does it mean to depend on God? It is important that we understand what it is, because it is more than saying, “LORD I depend on you.”
I have seen people who claim to be depending on God failing woefully in life. However, no one who depended on God in Bible days failed. If you fail depending on God, understand that you never depended on Him following the principles.
THERE ARE PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN A LIFE THAT DEPENDS ON GOD. YOU CANNOT DEPEND ON GOD KEEPING THE PRINCIPLES AND FAIL.
Joshua was able to speak to the sun and the moon successfully because he depended on God keeping the principles the LORD gave Him, the principle of meditating on the Law Day and night, and standing strong in the face of battles.
Moses was able to break the backbone of Pharaoh, bring judgment on the gods of Egypt, and bring Israel out successfully because he depended on God following the principles the LORD gave Him, the principle of divine direction.
Elijah was able to restore God to the national consciousness of Israel in the Mount Carmel showdown because he depended on God, following the principles the LORD gave him. God gave him the principle of walking in boldness and staying under His sovereign authority.
Solomon became the wisest and Riches King of all times because he depended on God, following the principles the LORD gave him.
When Samson was depending on God, and walking in His God given life principles, he was a wonder to his enemies. He could carry gates of Cities and eliminate entire armies without using a bomb. No one who depended on God failed in life. Out of weakness all of them were made strong.
So those of us who are claiming to be depending on God and yet are sick, oppressed, single, sad, poor, beg to survive, fail in everything we do, are not really depending on GOD. We may be sincere at heart but are not enlightened in our minds. Bad things do not perpetually prevail over people who depend on God.
These things, therefore, are not the fruits you see in the lives of those who depend on God. They only show that we do not know what it means to depend on God. We need to learn how to depend on God.
Now, before we look at how to depend on God let me say this; many in Church today bank on their sincerity and expect God to act on that. But I have come to realize that a sincere heart with an ignorant mind is a disaster waiting to happen.
IT WILL NOT SAVE A MAN’S LIFE FROM DESTRUCTION.
God lamented that His people are destroyed for lack of Knowledge, not for lack of sincerity or the presence of evil altars, evil foundations, curses, or demons. We are always destroyed for not being schooled in the things of God.
Sadly, many in Church today are schooled in the things of devils; they know the names of all kinds of evil spirits and what they do but do not know the 300 names of God and what they do. Others are schooled in humanistic philosophies and secular humanism. They know every common way to solve problems but cannot tell God’s way to solve problems.
Hence when they face uncommon problems, they fall down flat and start contemplating suicide or run to mediums called prophets. If we are not schooled in the things of God, we will never make headway in life. One way to depend on God is to be schooled in His ways.
Every virtue we may muster to succeed will not lead to a happy ending if we are not schooled in the things of GOD, especially on dependance. The first way to depend on God remains the pathways of learning; siting down to be schooled in His things. The reason is because you cannot depend on God you do not know.
Everyone who depended on GOD in scriptures, spent time with Him learning His ways and studying His paths, from Moses to Joshua, from Samson to David and to all other men and women of exploits in Bible.
Let’s take Joshua for example. He was blankly told that he will not be able to fulfill his assignment without depending on God. And one way to depend on GOD was for him to maintain a schooling posture all his life.
THE BIBLE SAYS GOD SAID TO HIM;
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8 NKJV
That was a command to maintain a schooling posture in his walk and talk with God. Meaning, if we say we are depending on God and do not spend the better parts of our lives schooling ourselves in His ways and paths, we are deceiving ourselves. Like I said earlier, you cannot depend on a God whose ways you do not know!
You must spend the better part of your life knowing His ways and paths to truly depend on Him.
A deeper look at what God told Joshua reveals a second way to depend on GOD – to walk in obedience. He said to him “..That you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
If we claim to be depending on God and yet we are not obeying Him respecting His ways we are in reality depending on ourselves. Rebellion is one way we tell God “we do not need you.”
If you look at the life of everyone who truly depended on God in scriptures you will see a life of implicit obedience to the will and ways of God, even at the cost of their lives.
Obedience is the loudest way to tell God “I depend on you” not prayers. That is why the Bible says it is better than sacrifice. That brings us to the last tip I want to share on depending on God – “being led by the Spirit.”
People who depend on GOD are not led by themselves. They are constantly led by the Spirit. The life of David comes to mind at this point. He demonstrated dependency on God by waiting for Him to speak before taking nay step in life. Even during battle and war with all kinds of weapons at his disposal, he will still step aside and wait for God to speak.
THAT IS A DISTINGUISHED BEHAVIOR OF THOSE WHO DEPEND ON GOD, NO MATTER HOW RICH OR POOR THEY ARE.
Do you know that it is easier to wait on God when you do not have what it takes to do a thing than when you have? Most times we wait on God for direction when we are in need but when the supply comes, we cease waiting and start directing ourselves. That was the error of Saul. And we are still repeating the same error today!
But David knew “A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.” So he maintained that “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalms 33:17, 20:7 NKJV).
Consequently, he never failed to seek GOD’s will and way in everything He did.
Friend, as we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that when it comes to making it in life, it is not about “what” you have by your side but about “who” you have on your side! Because if God is not leading you, even the best equipment will fail you because He will not be by your side!
Our devotional text this morning explained the kind of walk and talk David maintained with God. A major highlight of it says,
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
We can go on and on. But I believe God has spoken to us this morning. I pray that you walk in light this month in Jesus precious name. AMEN!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion;
May He remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Psalms 20:1-5 NKJV
